Transfer arrangement for overhead conveyer systems



=TRANSF ER ARRANGEMENT FOR OVERHEAD CONVEYER SYSTEMS wwf III

Inl

I/II

Javeal'of v? m s Jan. 1, 1952 w. GIBSON 2,580,758

TRANSFER ARRANGEMENT FOR OVERHEAD CONVEYER SYSTEMS Filed May 3, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 @/4 7 (,3/4 Y 2 @/4 2 "7 L ffm-7" 57 la fa (i f2 j] j] fvg 2 12 /2 J NI-'q TUO 7 7777/ ,fm

14 /4 74 S12 5 @/4 5 @/4 2 3 @/4 .GL 7 2/ 7 7 2/ f 7 2/ 9 a 9 9 2210 /1 22 10 22 MFL?? L? l5 7 f2 Hyg Jan. 1, 1952 W, @BSCN 2,580,758

iTRANSFER ARRANGEMENT FOR OVERHEAD CONVEYER SYSTEMS Filed May 3, 1949 3 Sheecs-Sheerl 3 a'fj Patented Jan. 1, 1952 TRANSFER ARRAN GEMEN T FCR OVERHEAD CONVEYER SYSTEMS William Gibsmmnaon, England, assignor of one-haii? to Daily Mirror Newspapers Limited,

London, England Application May 3, 1949, Serial No. 91,112 InfGreat Britain May 4, 1948 A 2 Claims. (Cl. 198-177) l 'I-'his invention relates to vconveying mechanism for supplying reels of paper to the magazines of printing presses and the like.

The present practice in supplying reels of paper to the magazines of printing presses is, speaking generally, to place the reels on bogies at the ends or other suitable positions adjacent tothe lines of presses and then push the reels by hand to the particular magazine unit at which it is required; expired ends of reels and waste paper are loaded on an empty bogie and returned by' hand to certain places for bundling and returning to the pulping mills.

In printing offices used for a newspaper with a large circulation the number of magazines and reels of paper used correspondingly great, needing long lines of presses.

The object of the invention is to provide a conveyor system whereby the heavy labour involved in dealing with such large quantities of reels is reduced.

The invention consists in a conveyor system comprising a continuous or closed overhead track supporting a plurality of bogies from certain of which are suspended pivotally mounted elements furnished at one end with a counterweight and at the other end with hook, each adapted to engage a sling passed about a reel and at points in the length of the continuous overhead track, additional overhead tracks supporting bogies from which are suspended hooks, such' additional tracks each including a portion extending in a direction generally parallel with the adjacent portions of the inst-mentioned track and inclined to the horozontal, so that the bogies supported thereby, and thus the hooks suspended from the bogies will be progressively raised vertically when moving in one direction, so that such a hook when engaged with a sling lextending about a reel and supported from the rst-mentioned track will take the load of the reel and release it from the hook by which it was supported from the mst-mentioned track, thereby allowing this hook to move about its pivotal connection under the action of a counterweight.

For facilitating the engagement of the slings encircling the reels, on the floor which is preferably inclined adjacent to the position at which the reels are loaded on the bogies, there are provided trucks on to which the reels are in the iirst place loaded and which are caused to travel in the direction of the continuous overhead track, so that by the passage of the trucks oyer the inclined surface and by holding the loop or eye oi the sling in position with respect to'one of the tinuous overhead track are connected one with the other by means of chains or'other exible connections and one or some of these bogies may be furnished with electric motors provided with means for picking up current from an overhead conductor. Preferably however the chains `or other flexible connections are in driving engagement with sprockets or pulleys, one or certain of which are driven by a motor or the like.

A typical arrangement, in accordance with the invention, comprises a continuous or closed overhead track which is in effect four sided, two of the sides, namely, the longer sides, being located each between two banks of presses, a storage and loading platform being arranged adjacent tov one of the shorter sides.

Each of the additional `tracks comprises at least one portion or branch extending away from the rst-rnentioned track and into a position ap propriate for depositing the reels adjacent to the magazine to be servedby it.

Thus, each of such additional tracks may be formed with two branches with which is associated a switch so that the reel can be carried by one or other of the branches into the appropriate position for'loading it.

The branches or each of them may comprise a portion which is inclined downward so that in travelling over this portion the hooks suspended by the bogies running on this track will be lowered to al degree such that the reel will be supported on the floor or on a truck in turn supported on the i-loor and the lhooks become released from the sling when the reel is so supported.

The slings'may each be provided with an'eye formed to facilitate the transfer from a' bogie on the closed continuous overhead to a bogie on one of the additional tracks. Thus the eye may be of generally triangular form secured by one of its -apices to a sling.

showing an alternative arrangement; A l

the eye, thereafter the trolley on the branch track carrying the reel may be moved into a position in which the reel may be deposited adjacent to the press to be served.

On the main track is supported a core-holding trolley 25. a' hopper comprising a framework 26 furnished with a hinged flap 21 and a locking member 28 adapted release-bly to engage the nap and end elevation of a portion 4of a branch Figure 9 is a view in elevation of 'a portion of the main track showing a reel engaged and supwhich is shown in end elevation in Figure l0;

in position to retain the reel cores introduced into it and which are carried forward to a discharge portion which may be some portion of the platform I.

The form and construction of the eye and the 'mode of connecting the sling to it must be such Figure 1l being an end elevation of a trolley on the main track and-carrying a reel.

In Figures l andZ, I isthebank or platform to which the reels are supplied, 2 the main overihead track which as maybe seen from Figures 4, 6., 9, 10 and 11 is in theforrn o f an I beam supporting a pluralityof bogies B urnishedwith wheels 4 and connected one with the otherby a chain 5 as shownin Figure 9 passing over sprockets 6 represented diagrammatically in Figures l and 2, one or all of these sprockets being driven from some appropriate sourceo. power to impart motion tothecha-in.

From the bogies are Asuspinidedjoy links 'i pir'- otallyinounted elements 8 eachfurnished at'one end with a counterweight. 9 and at. the other end with a hook IU adapted .to be engaged byan eye I I to .which is connected a sling I2 passing about a reel I3, the reelswhich are initiallyloaded on trucks-I4 running on a floor I5 .which is', as shown in Figure 3, inclineddownward from the platform I.

As the truck leaves the platform the hook- I is entered in the eye and as the truck descends the weight of the reel is increasingly taken by the hook until, when the truck reaches a level portion of the track, it is entirely supported by the hook.

In addition to the main track there are provided subsidiary tracks which also .are I beams comprising a portion IB extendingv parallel with the main track and a portion .I'I extending generally at right angles thereto into positions.. I8 where the presses to be served or supplied with the reels are located. I

In the arrangementshownin Figure 2 there are provided switches I9 on'the arm I'I so that the reels may either be caused to travel to the branch 29 or to the branch 28a. On these branch tracks run trolleys 2| from which depend links 22 furnished with hooks 23. l

In order that the reels may be transferred t0 the trolleys on these branch tracks, the-portion 24 of each of the branch tracks is inclined downward as shown more clearly in Figure? sothat a hook 23 supported from a trolleyZI on a branch track I 6 may be entered in the eye' with which a sling is connected. f

As the eye, in which the hook in question has been entered, is moved in the direction shown by the arrow in Figure 5, itl will move upward consequent upon the upward motion of the trolley with which it is connected, due tothe inclination of the portion of the track in questionguntil the load of the reel is wholly taken by thish'ook when the hook element I0 will move aboutA its pivotal connection under the 'action offthe' counterweight and become completely releasedlfrom that in their travel the reels will be maintained with their axes parallel with the portion of the track by which they are supported.

The operation of the system above described is as follows:

The reels will be loaded from the bank or platform above referred to on to the overhead track by engaging the hook on each of the bogies thereon with an eye provided on a sling extending about a. reel.

The bogies on the main track will be maintained continually'in motion and as the reels travel along the main track, an operator desiring to put a new reel in a magazine of a press, will run one of the bogies on the subsidiary track into 4a position in which the hook -suspended from the bogie may be engaged in the eye of asling, the subsidiary track being furnished lwith a portion which is inclined downward to facilitate this operation.

The hook having been inserted for some dis# tance, bogie on the main track in moving forward will carry the bogie on the subsidiary track along with it by means of an arm 29 provided on the trolley 2|' on the subsidiary track.

As the bogie on the subsidiary track'ris thrust forward it will rise up the incline provided on the track and when it has reachedthe horizontal portion of the track the weight of the reel will have been transferred from the bogie on the main track to the bogie on the subsidiary track. The operator is then able to push the reel supported by the bogie on the subsidiary track and insert the reel into the magazine or lower it on to a truck on the ground.

The means for loading the reels on to the bogies on the main or closed overhead track has already been described.

The used slings may be returned to .the loading bank or platform-by slinging them on the empty hook suspended from a bogie on the-.main track or they may be placed. in a hopper such'as is providedfor transporting the reel centres, wrappings and waste paper. ThisV hopper may be provided with a door adjacent-to its base to facilitate unloading its contents, and it may be arranged to be loweredto the ground'or onto a bogie.

l. Conveying mechanism for supplyingreels of paper to the magazines of printing presses and the like, comprising a continuous or closed overhead track supporting a plurality of bogies from certain of which are suspended pivotally mounted elements furnished at one end with a counter?- weight and at the other end with a hook, each adapted to engage a sling passed about a reel and at points in-"the lengthof the .continuous overhead track, additional overhead -'tracks' sup'- porting bogiesv from whichare' suspended hooks. such additional tracks-each including'a portion extending in a direction' generally parallelwith the adjacent portions of the first-mentioned track and inclined to 'the horizontal-so that the bogies supported thereby, and thus the hooks suspended from the bogies, will be progressively raised vertically when moving in one direction, so that such a hook when engaged with a sling extending about a reel supported from the first-mentioned track will take the load of the reel and release it from the ho-ok by which it was supported from the firstfmentioned track, thereby allowing this i0 hook to move about its pivotal connection under the action of a counterweight, the movement of a bogie on a subsidiary track alongside a bogie on the main track being eiected by engagement of one of the bogies with an arm provided on the other bogie.

2. Conveying means as claimed in claim 1, in

which the bogies running on the continuous overhead track are connected one with the other by means of chains or other exible connections.

WILHAM GIBSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,335,1790 Ransburg Nov. 30, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 445,199 Germany June 4, 1927 

